03:19 - Redn1ghtThe first thing I heard while listening to that song was... "Wait... No way... FINAL COUNTDOWN! Oh shit you trolls."

03:17 - deadoneNo, I didn't pick that up which is bizarre given that Final Countdown is such a distinctive song and yes From Beoynd does sound like it now! It did sound familiar but I have put it down to genre! :P

03:17 - Redn1ghtThe melody is exactly the same in From Beyond right after the solo for example. xD

03:13 - Redn1ghtI was just pointing out my (Typos in here.) That I fixed. Sleepy atm. :P

03:11 - Redn1ghtI meant that title song in the Enforcer album sounding exactly like Final Countdown. Compare: [link] to [link]

03:11 - deadoneAs for typos, feel free to volunteer for an editor's position at MS.

03:09 - deadoneCause I've never listened to that Europe album save the title track.

What a way to waste the chance to get again a great name in metal along great singers!!!!

An soooo UNINSPIRED, SAD AND BORING album! Is par with AGE OF AQUARIUS in my disappointments' scale...

The worst Timo Tolkki strikes back...

And to think I could get better this time listening Jethro Tull's albums (I'm starting to listen carefully their music and they are so AMAZING!).

Seriously, even if you are a great fan of Tolkki, just AVOID THE DISAPPOINTMENT if you look for an Episode II or a Visions II, even Elements Part II was better than this blandness fest putting in shame also the names of great female singers.

The only above-average track was the Fabio Lione's one (Jerusalem Is Falling).

Not that I don't enjoy the more slow-paced Power Metal (I love it in all its forms, Euro Flowerish, Sppedy as Hell, Thrashy as Heck, Melodic as Heaven) but FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! TIMO, YOU HAD SO GREAT SINGERS AND YOU COULD NOT EXPLOIT BETTER THEIR TALENTS (and it hurts me painfully to listen the deFeis' song in this album, cause I love his vocals).

My hopes of getting again amazing music from the finnish madman are almost dead...

The last albums I enjoyed truly from him were Trinity from RR (almost as great as Infinite) and In Paradisum (yes, I know, generic as hell and Matos outta form, but it has at least some old-Strato vibes in this one).

Tolkki man... you've made a mess out of this one. Never seen such a bland album in my life. I seriously think that the power drive behind Stratovarius wasn't this guy as much as Jens and Kotipelto was as I really can't explain so many disasters in his post-Stratovarius discography. Except for the vocals and guitar solos, everything was ignored by Tolkki. The ballads are just horrible and uninspired and DeFeis sounds just gruesome. I just hope Tolkki did some shit to his voice otherwise Virgin Steele is really fucked.

Tolkki man... you've made a mess out of this one. Never seen such a bland album in my life. I seriously think that the power drive behind Stratovarius wasn't this guy as much as Jens and Kotipelto was as I really can't explain so many disasters in his post-Stratovarius discography. Except for the vocals and guitar solos, everything was ignored by Tolkki. The ballads are just horrible and uninspired and DeFeis sounds just gruesome. I just hope Tolkki did some shit to his voice otherwise Virgin Steele is really fucked.

My pick for the most disappointing album of the year...

I agree, TT has been stuck in a rut for about 10 years and this album is no exception - it sounds rushed beyond belief. One album per year can't be helping much... he should probably have a break and spend a couple more years focusing on bettering his material / find a way to reinvent himself, hell, maybe even spend longer in the studio!?!

Since he left Strato i've only really enjoyed 2 albums (The RR New Era album and the Land Of New Hope) and I wouldn't say either of those broke new ground. Tolkki had his best days with Strato in the 90's but you're right, it wasn't all about Tolkki, the 4 other guys helped to make the band as good as it was...

Is the production really so awful (guitars and other instruments pretty buried, voices's volume so high) or did I download bad quality mp3s of the album (which actually is the only reliable and available quality in torrent sites)?

Did you listen also the last RR album "Trinity"? IMHO it was the best one released by the maniac through those years

Trinity was alright, it was probably the heaviest RR album, but I felt like most songs copied Strato's older works... and Gus Monsanto's vocals sounded frail and forced... (check out how much better his vocals are in Adagio's 'Dominate' album!!)

Chriwalker - 15.06.2014 at 14:36

I actually liked the last one kind of, it wasn't great, but okey yes. This one though, I listened once through it, and it's the worst album I've heard in a very long time. I can't remember one song, and it even had Floor Jansen in it... Come on, it should be impossible to make her voice so bland.... Better luck next time Tolkki, I'll be passing this one.

I actually liked the last one kind of, it wasn't great, but okey yes. This one though, I listened once through it, and it's the worst album I've heard in a very long time. I can't remember one song, and it even had Floor Jansen in it... Come on, it should be impossible to make her voice so bland.... Better luck next time Tolkki, I'll be passing this one.

Floor should never have anything to do with Tolkki again. Brilliant voice ruined by terrible signwriting. Beginning to wonder if he wrote any of the Stratovarius stuff at all. Its only when Kotipelto joined the band that they started doing anything any good. Just saying.

I thought the first Avalon was pretty good... since he left Stratovarius it's one of the only Tolkki albums I can listen from start to finish. But this album gets worse and worse the more I listen to it. This has got to be Tolkki's worst album ever - it makes RR and Symfonia seem epic in comparison

I thought the first Avalon was pretty good... since he left Stratovarius it's one of the only Tolkki albums I can listen from start to finish. But this album gets worse and worse the more I listen to it. This has got to be Tolkki's worst album ever - it makes RR and Symfonia seem epic in comparison

Well, at least I got love for Symfonia (surely Matos vocals are outta place but IMHO was a nice album with so much Strato feeling, maybe the post-Strato album made by TT with more Strato influences, following Trinity). RR was a mess with New Era (and also has the MOST CHEESIEST SONG OF ALL TIME EVER, Glorious and Divine), then got released the also HUGELY DISAPPOINTMENT called Age of Aquarius, and in another weird move by the maniac, he calls it quit the band and releases their best album: Trinity.

Something very serious happened with Timo after this grave incident through 2004 :/ Meanwhile, Stratovarius gets better and better...

I thought the first Avalon was pretty good... since he left Stratovarius it's one of the only Tolkki albums I can listen from start to finish. But this album gets worse and worse the more I listen to it. This has got to be Tolkki's worst album ever - it makes RR and Symfonia seem epic in comparison

Well, at least I got love for Symfonia (surely Matos vocals are outta place but IMHO was a nice album with so much Strato feeling, maybe the post-Strato album made by TT with more Strato influences, following Trinity). RR was a mess with New Era (and also has the MOST CHEESIEST SONG OF ALL TIME EVER, Glorious and Divine), then got released the also HUGELY DISAPPOINTMENT called Age of Aquarius, and in another weird move by the maniac, he calls it quit the band and releases their best album: Trinity.

Something very serious happened with Timo after this grave incident through 2004 :/ Meanwhile, Stratovarius gets better and better...

I remember watching a video blog Tolkki did about this 2nd Avalon album, it was about the time he was making the album in Winter. He openly admitted it took him ages before for good ideas came along, and they came late on in the writing process. Your right about Stratovarius, it must have weighed on his mind a lot over the years, maybe that has drained him of creativity... but I guess he was in Strato for 20+ years. For Tolkki's sake I really hope the 3rd Avalon will be better...

I remember watching a video blog Tolkki did about this 2nd Avalon album, it was about the time he was making the album in Winter. He openly admitted it took him ages before for good ideas came along, and they came late on in the writing process.